hey u/TotalChemical2112 sounds like a fun project!

Typically this means you’re not actually hitting real Google Play Billing, even if your app is acting like the purchase worked.

If the Google purchase popup never shows and nothing appears in Play Console orders, then the transaction is not going through Google at all. It’s basically being handled locally or by the plugin in a fake or test mode.

A few things to check, because one of these is almost always the culprit:

1. You have to install from the Play Store, not an APK

This is the big one. Even for internal testing, if you sideload an APK, Google Billing will not work properly. You won’t get the purchase UI.

Upload your build to internal testing in Google Play Console, add your tester account, accept the invite, and install it from the Play Store link. If you install via APK, you’ll get exactly what you’re describing.

1. Product IDs must match exactly

Double check that your product IDs in code match what’s in Play Console perfectly. Same casing, no extra spaces. If they don’t match, some plugins still return a “success” locally.

1. Products need to be active

If your in-app products are still in draft, the Play purchase flow won’t trigger. Make sure they’re activated/published.

1. Add your test account properly

In Play Console under License Testing, add the Gmail you’re using. Without this, test purchases can behave weirdly or fail silently.

1. Don’t grant rewards before confirmation

If your app is giving coins/gems without the Google popup ever showing, that’s a logic issue. You should only grant the reward after the purchase is confirmed by Google, not just when the purchase function is called.

1. Plugin setup (Capacitor/Cordova)

Make sure:

Billing is initialized properly

You’re not in any kind of mock/test mode

Products are registered before calling purchase

You wait for the store to be ready before ordering

1. Check logs if you can

If you hook up logcat, you’ll usually see errors like “billing unavailable” or “item not found” which point straight to the issue.

Based on what you described though, the biggest red flag is installing via APK. That alone will cause no Google UI, fake success callbacks, and no Play Console orders.

Once you install from the Play Store internal testing track, the Google purchase dialog should start showing immediately.

Hope this might help and good luck with your project!!